Doctors have said that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
condition remains unchanged after a second night in hospital following
a major stroke.
No other Israeli politician has the stature of Mr Sharon
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The 77-year-old leader will remain sedated in an "induced coma" for 48 hours after a lengthy operation.
A team of physicians and surgeons will decide on Friday morning whether Mr Sharon should undergo a brain scan.
Correspondents say aides to Mr Sharon are working on the assumption that he will not be capable of resuming work.
Deputy leader Ehud Olmert has assumed power and chaired
a special cabinet meeting on Thursday, but attention in Israel is
beginning to turn to an uncertain political future.
The country is due to hold elections on 28 March, which will go ahead as planned.
Mr Sharon had recently formed a new political party, Kadima (Forward), after defecting from the right-wing Likud party.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen says his stroke changes every
political calculation with no-one, including Ehud Olmert, commanding
such Israeli trust.
Our correspondent says at any rate a successor may not have the will, experience or desire to follow Mr Sharon's plans.
Brain damage fear
The director of Hadassah Hospital, Shlomo Mor-Yosef,
said on Friday morning that all of Mr Sharon's vital signs had remained
unchanged overnight.
These included his blood pressure, his pulse and his inter-cranial pressure, the most important indicator.
"This is a positive sign," said Mr Mor-Yosef.
Earlier the deputy director Shmuel Shapira called for patience.
"He is in a medically-induced coma and on a respirator," Shmuel Shapira told the Associated Press.
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ARIEL SHARON'S HEALTH
Sharon suffers minor stroke on 18 December 2005
Doctors discover small hole in heart, schedule operation for 5 January Sharon rushed to hospital one day before scheduled surgery with major stroke
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"This is a stage the requires much patience. We don't expect a tremendous turnaround. We're hoping for the best."
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Mr Sharon's
doctors do not expect him to recover from the stroke and the brain
haemorrhage that followed.
They fear the prime minister has suffered serious and irreversible brain damage, Haaretz says.
Suspicion has fallen on blood-thinning drugs prescribed after a minor stroke in Mr Sharon suffered in December.
Medical experts say those drugs would greatly increase
the chance of a potentially-fatal brain haemorrhage following a second
stroke.
But blood thinners are a regular and correct form of treatment for minor strokes caused by blood clots, doctors say.
'Praying'
A sombre and anxious Ehud Olmert opened the morning cabinet meeting on Thursday.
"Israel's strength will allow it to face the situation," he said, adding that they were praying "for good news from hospital".
Ministers from the right-wing Likud party agreed to
postpone its planned resignation from the government, which had been
scheduled for Sunday.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the BBC's
The World at One programme he was concerned about the possible effect
Mr Sharon's absence would have on the peace process.
Mr Sharon's plight has been headline news elsewhere in the Arab world, where he is widely reviled.
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The gravity of Sharon's condition reshuffles all the political cards
